Strickland departing Indiana with his head high

February 26, 2006|CURT RALLO Tribune Staff Writer

Marshall Strickland's career at Indiana started under the glow of the Hawaiian sun as a brash and young Indiana team rolled to the Maui Invitational championship in 2002, just a few months after reaching the national championship game. Today, Strickland will play his final game at Assembly Hall for a program that finds itself clearly under a cloud. Indiana coach Mike Davis resigned as Hoosier nation howled during a stretch when Indiana looked lost and confused. Strickland, a 6-foot-2 guard from Mount Airy, Md., scored 22 points Wednesday to help Indiana end a four-game losing streak with a 69-65 victory against Penn State. Strickland rarely grabbed the headlines during his career at Indiana, but emerged as a steady player who contributed in quiet but key ways. This season he averages 12.1 points a game. "I don't have any regrets," Strickland said. "I walked in and gave it my all. It has been a lot of sweat and hard workouts. I look back and I feel like I have grown from all of it. "I have grown up as a player and as a person. I am a lot more mature than I was when I got here. The experience has made me a strong person. I feel like I can walk away from this as a man, when I came in as a boy." Strickland was frequently the speculation of transfer talk when Bracey Wright commanded the spotlight, and Strickland's playing time was diminished at times. But it was Wright who departed Bloomington early (for the NBA), and Strickland who stayed on to wear the Crimson and Cream for four seasons. "It has definitely gone fast," Strickland said of his four seasons with the Hoosiers. "I have a lot of memories here. I am excited about the game (today) just because of what it means for our team and our season, not to mention that it is senior day." According to Strickland, he wants Indiana fans to remember him as someone who gave everything to Indiana. "I hope people look at my four years and look at me as a player who played hard," Strickland said. "(I want to be remembered as) a guy that did whatever it took to help his team win, and a person that loves the game of basketball. "Practice has been good, and we are having fun. We have been going at each other, and I think the intensity has stepped up another notch. It is what we need to keep growing at this point in the season and to try to get things back on the right track." That won't be easy against a Michigan State team that is desperate for a victory to improve its position in the Big Ten race and NCAA seedings.